Footwear, e.g., shoes, sandals, boots, slippers, etc. but not socks, frequently is packaged for transport and sale in a box. The footwear is usually wrapped with an appropriate paper sheet and another sheet is stuffed in each footwear article to prevent undesired footwear deformation inside the box. The prior art footwear box requires significant space, which is especially disadvantageous during shipping.
To overcome this problem, the prior art has used pouches or jute bags for footwear packaging. In this arrangement, 10-20 pairs of shoes are tightly fitted in cardboard during shipping. However, these pouches or jute bags lack a rigid shape so the shoes shipped therein are not protected against deformation. Moreover, repackaging into the conventional shoe cartons is frequently necessary when the shoes are removed from the jute bag, prior to sale to the end consumer. Aside from the above disadvantageous bulk, the prior art shoe cartons pose ecological problems because of the large amounts of packaging refuse.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved footwear packaging structure and method.
Another object is to provide a new and improved footwear packaging structure and method wherein the packaged footwear is protected against damage during storage and shipping, which is more compact and at the same time allows lower use of packing materials, and which results in reduced labor in packing.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved. footwear packaging structure and method wherein the footwear is preserved against damage while so packaged so it reaches the end consumer undamaged and is packaged so practical handling is assured in commerce.